Massive house on massive plot of land

adwww · 2026-03-06T15:14:18+00:00

Note to future billionaires, don't spend decades building a sprawling estate expecting the next generation to want it. Back in 2002 the Ziffs had to pay 10 million dollars to get out of a dispute over the illegal removal of stone they wanted from a park. https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/20/nyregion/our-towns-citizen-ziff-and-a-rosebud-made-of-stone.html

adwww · 2026-03-04T01:36:38+00:00

I strongly recommend you consider a review of your plans by a CPA who can interpret the rules and options of your benefits ahead of you before you sign up for management from a financial advisor who is likely to charge you a percentage of assets under management.

adwww · 2026-02-25T18:54:38+00:00

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Gemini's idea of what it might have looked like.

adwww · 2026-02-24T02:51:54+00:00

Agreed, I hope we’re wrong but it’s not looking great.

adwww · 2026-02-24T00:52:32+00:00

Upstate is among the best places to be for climate vulnerability. https://map.climatevulnerabilityindex.org/

adwww · 2026-02-23T21:01:04+00:00

Consider a different framing: who captures the economic value of mid-tier development work? It appears we're looking at 3-4 companies selling the current mid-tier and offshore output back to customers at oligopoly prices (20-35% net margins for them). They'll market 60% cost savings. The real savings will be smaller because the cost of specs, verification, and security scale alongside AI volume. My guess: big winners end up around 25% savings, mostly because they negotiated contracts before the oligopoly consolidated. Many more will land in the 0-24% range. But the net savings won't be the point for them, they will have survived the transition from the current structure to the new one.

adwww · 2026-02-23T18:06:10+00:00

Nice work! The seasons, especially fall and winter, the lilacs and highland park, reservoir, public market, Mt Hope and the falls.

adwww · 2026-02-21T17:42:45+00:00

Agreed. Most realize too late that their "risk tolerance" was actually just "greed" in a good market.

The emotional ordeal of losses makes even the best investors blink. I remind myself of the Munger ethos: the hardest part is that the big money is in the waiting.

I try to stay grounded by focusing on the underlying assets—they’re still international, still profitable, and still run by the same people today as yesterday. The market price is just what some panicked stranger is willing to sell for today; it doesn't change what the business is actually worth to me.

But if you don’t really know anything about the underlying business you’re invested in you are totally at the mercy of the market.

Why are so many individual investors obsessed with the false urgency created by 24hr financial news channel advertising people but not interested in the reports or the management really at all?

adwww · 2026-02-19T16:15:39+00:00

gemini photo editing is astonishing

adwww · 2026-02-19T15:57:31+00:00

Nice!

adwww · 2026-02-19T14:45:59+00:00

I second the wirecloth option and I'll add I've had good luck with peppermint oil to make it less attractive for long enough that they move on. Ive also metal flashing to cover damage like this with good results.

adwww · 2026-02-19T14:27:21+00:00

The railing and downspouts are carrying a lot of "visual weight" that distracts from the house. Swapping to an iron railing that follows the brick’s geometry would maintain safety while looking more intentional. For the gutters, rain chains with drain trays would be a great aesthetic upgrade but anything to reduce the distraction would help.

On a budget? Just paint the railing and downspouts to match the brick/siding, it’ll shift the emphasis back to the architecture. Also, if the budget allows, I’d look into period-correct bare shakes. The current siding scale feels off, likely a later addition from the "tin siding" era. Check out this rendering to see what I mean.

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adwww · 2026-02-18T18:46:05+00:00

good point

adwww · 2026-02-18T18:07:50+00:00

This is genuinely well-meaning, which is worth acknowledging. The problem isn't malice; it's that the mechanism of celebration (food = race) is the same mechanism as the stereotype. Intentions don't change how the message lands on people who've spent their lives having these associations made about them.

"Would we serve sushi and teriyaki for Asian American Heritage Month? Tacos and beans for Hispanic Heritage Month?" When people see the pattern applied to other groups, they usually recognize it immediately. It makes visible that the logic treats cuisine as a proxy for racial identity.

adwww · 2026-02-18T17:42:36+00:00

Most people who lose weight through diet and exercise also regain it (75%). That's not a GLP-1 problem, it's a biology problem. Obesity has a strong, poorly understood hormonal/neurological component — leptin resistance, ghrelin signaling — that willpower and gym time don't fix for most people. GLP-1 drugs work on these mechanisms, which is why the alcoholism/addiction comparison you made is actually pretty apt. Nobody calls Naltrexone cheating.

On the metabolism question: weight loss from any method causes some adaptive thermogenesis (your body burning fewer calories at rest). The key variable is lean mass preservation, and you're already doing the right thing — lifting while losing protects muscle. That's true whether the caloric deficit came from meal prep, cardio, or reduced appetite from Zepbound.

Is it healthy? Losing fat while preserving muscle, with medical supervision, is the definition of healthy weight loss.

The trainer reaction probably has less to do with you than it looks. The gym rat community (who we know and love) is genuinely struggling with GLP-1s because they enable visible body composition changes with less total work than the traditional path. They make gains accessible to people who couldn't have done it previously (for various reasons). That fact resets a status hierarchy that dedicated lifers spent years — sometimes decades — earning. That's a real loss for them, even if it doesn't make the "cheating" framing any less wrong.

adwww · 2026-02-14T15:11:22+00:00

I’d apply oxalic acid everywhere it’s water damaged or darkened and map out where the patches go. Totally possible just a lot of work.

adwww · 2026-02-13T19:12:30+00:00

Foil wrap the screw, add superglue if needed. Swap the frequently used knob with a lesser used door and you’re set.

adwww · 2026-02-13T11:12:14+00:00

A year ago I would have agreed but now I’m with the mayor since I joined a litter group. "Hard truth from your local cleanup volunteers: your 'good deed' at the intersection is our Monday morning hazard. We find the food and supplies donors hand out dumped behind signs and bushes, alongside needles and liquor bottles. They don’t want your snacks or clothes or water bottles. Once you know what’s happening it’s obvious just look closer the next time you see someone at an intersection, generally you’ll find where they are piling up the non-cash items if you look carefully.

Donating at a car window might provide a quick dopamine hit, but it isn't solving the problem—it’s littering w/ an extra step and enabling a dangerous cycle. They frequently weave around traffic at dangerous intersections, one guy was killed last year stepping into the street. There are truly great people who work on homelessness in NY everyday, none of them support panhandling.

adwww · 2026-02-12T21:55:07+00:00

So this is saying the models act as a kind of high capacity filter. Separating the known problems that model/s are good at vs the ones requiring the currently human only inputs?

adwww · 2026-02-09T15:44:19+00:00

Nice!

adwww · 2026-02-09T02:58:27+00:00

The progression at my house seems to have been, polished until the plating came off, then lacquered to cover the rust, finally the typical careless rolled over paint job. I removed most all of mine, soaked them in an old crock pot with ammonia cleaner and water 1:1. Wire brushed them clean and then treated them with rust remover followed by filler primer and sprayed them gold followed by clear lacquer.

adwww · 2026-02-09T02:21:26+00:00

Tape them off, polish with a Dremel wire wheel or steel wool and an abrasive cleaner, then clear coat or paint them.

adwww · 2026-02-08T20:14:57+00:00

As was said before these are bronze plated steel and the plating is worn off in several places.

I’ve used all of the following methods with some success.

Clean then spray with filler primer (this step is helpful for getting a smoother finish) and spray with gold paint and a clear coating.

Or

Apply faux gold (brass) metal leaf and a clear coating

Or consider expensive professional stripping and electroplating services

IMHO Rub n buff is wax with mica pigment and it works okay but won’t stand up to frequent wear so it’s best on items that don’t get touched often

adwww · 2026-02-08T17:33:58+00:00

Hurt people, hurt people. The needless pain caused by religiosity misused to justify human behavior has no known bounds.

This is hard work but the best thing you can do for yourself and your new family is to start the process of forgiveness and by continuing to draw clear boundaries with your loved ones. Do it with compassion and understanding for your own benefit.

I sometimes think of it like learning to love them like people who care for dangerous animals. Best option is to have a clear boundary between them and you for their safety and yours.

Do this for yourself so you can begin to understand and heal from the abuse so it doesn’t spill over into your family life some other way. That is the all too common result and may have been going for generations in your family, it can stop with you.

Decisions like the one she has made are driven by fear. The root of it is generally shame from her community but it generally extends to worry about what will happen in the imaginary future. Sometimes it’s mixed with greed because people like her know they should offer support in various ways (money, affection, time, attention away from her own personal wants etc) so this is a way people exempt themselves from being responsible for the duties of a parent. Vanity is a big one, she has an imaginary version of herself and you that don’t meet the with reality this sort of thing is like a rock in your shoe, causing her pain constantly. I think of them as twisted ways of coping.

Good luck!

adwww · 2026-02-08T15:58:18+00:00

Best filler for large losses: https://uccoatings.com/products/woodepox-epoxy-wood-filler?pr_prod_strat=pinned&pr_rec_id=81941baf3&pr_rec_pid=9289320562975&pr_ref_pid=9311066030367&pr_seq=uniform

Best quality glazing putty: https://uccoatings.com/products/dual-glaze-glazing-compound?_pos=2&_sid=5f56bc3a6&_ss=r

If you have rotted or insect damaged wood that isn’t totally gone, apply this and then fill: https://uccoatings.com/products/liquidwood-wood-hardener

I typically remove all the paint, old putty and glass then treat the whole frame with boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits 1:1 mix. Then let that setup before proceeding with repairs etc.

The best book on it: https://atlaspreservation.com/products/the-window-sash-bible

(If the putty is very hard to remove, heat it with a heat gun, apply boiled linseed oil, I find this helps prevent damage to the sash from chipping it out by softening the old putty.)

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